The superlattice and multi-quantum well structures of various III-V semiconductors were remarkably stable to thermal annealing. This was very different to the instability of these structures which occurred when an impurity such as Zn or Si was diffused into them. It was also recalled that selective area impurity-induced disordering of multi-quantum well structures had become a potentially powerful technique for the fabrication of certain devices. The current state of understanding of the fundamental mechanisms was reviewed here. It was pointed out that, in n-type material, the involvement of group-III vacancies was generally accepted. However, in the case of p-type dopants such as Zn, an over-saturation of self-interstitials was required for the enhancement of interdiffusion.

I.Harrison, H.P.Ho, N.Baba-Ali: Journal of Electronic Materials, 1991, 20[6], 449-56